I bet you’re wondering what the big idea is behind this whole “goodguy” thing - it came about one day when I had had enough of the internet spiels and hype being thrown at me by slimey internet marketers. Promising millions in minutes and hoping you’d be gullible enough to just click that link - I was thoroughly disgusted.
I was even more upset by the fact that these slimeballs were my competition - the very same people who were attempting to sell to the same market as I was. And I was supposed to feel good about my profession? How could anyone feel good about what they were doing with that awful stigma attached to it?
And so GoodGuy Online was born - out of frustration, when I was at the end of my rope and *this* close to quitting and becoming a recluse in Alaska somewhere. I decided to build (to tell you the truth I wasn’t even sure if it was even going to be a website at that point!) something that people could use as a shining example of what marketing really is - the art of connecting people to the products, services or information that they need in a pleasing and hassle-free manner.
Might seem like quite the feat but I was pretty set on doing it and when you get to know me, you’ll see that when I get the idea to do something there’s usually no stopping me!
Nice Story Gabby but what does it mean to me?
Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s no need for online marketers to feel bad or ashamed of what we do - we need to stand up and show the world wide web that we are not all snakeoil salesman and we might not be able to make a million dollars in mere minutes - but gosh darned it we can make a living without scamming innocent people!
So I’ve come up with a set of standards or principles, the commandments one might call them (if one really wanted to tempt fate!) and I’ve used them every day since then. By following these guidelines in everything I do I never feel as though I’m doing something wrong, that a customer might complain or that I’ll be blacklisted because someone updated an algorithm somewhere to use more common sense.
So Without Further Ado - Here are the GoodGuy Principles!
- Like a Doctor, Do No Harm.
To do no harm is the first part of a doctor’s hypocratic oath. Even if he can’t possibly help you, a doctor will do everything in their power to ensure you aren’t harmed while in their care. I’ve found that this translates perfectly well to internet marketing.
Your clients and customers are your patients - swear your own oath to do them no harm. Everything that you do, online and off, must be professional and restrained at all times. Do not intentially harm another person’s business, reputation or product for any reason - especially if it’s because of a personal grudge or competition based envy. In situations like these, the one who initiated the confrontation is more often hought of as the bad guy in spite of who happens to be right or wrong in the situation. - Be Confidant in Your Abilities And Realistic in Your Claims.
If you’re not confident in yourself and what you know you can do - then who else will? To be a successful marketer online you need to be able to trust yourself above all and know yourself through and through.
Knowing what you can and cannot reasonably expect from yourself will make your life so much simpler as you realize that you can ask for help and get an end product thousands of times better then if you did it all yourself.
Keeping your claims humble will ensure that you don’t have to live up to some unreasonable fact or statistic you pulled out of thin air late one night. Besides, I’ve always equated snakeoil salesmen with liars and to be a good liar you need to have an excellent memory! Keeping your headlines and spiels more realistic means you never have to remember how you came up with that statistic about conversion rates or volume of traffic. - Practice Complete Transparency.
To truly build trust with your customers or subscribers, you need to show them exactly who you are. There can be no more hiding behind handles or avatars to protect our anonymity on the internet - we need to show them that we have nothing to hide. That we aren’t going to pick up shop and move out of town when we have everyone’s money.
We’re expecting our customers to aid us in some way - either by purchasing a product through us or by paying us our wage for work rendered - can’t we show a bit of courtesy and let them see exactly what they’re getting? - Follow the Rules of a Brick and Mortar Business.
Just because you may not have a physical store or office outside your home does not mean that the regular rules of business do not apply to you. File your taxes, advertise locally as well as globally, get a business license and start keeping your receipts! All this and so much more is involved in running your own business and if it doesn’t get done you’ll find you have many more headaches in the future then if you had simply followed the rules and did a bit of research in your area.
Most of my business comes from word of mouth around my home town and you should try to build a reputation outside the online community to ensure your business’ future success. - Content may be King, But Quality is Queen.
People may visit a site because it has a lot of content, but the quality of the content is what keeps them coming back again and again. Whatever you do, try to only use, endorse, promote or sell the highest quality of products. When you start to endorse or promote low quality products, your clients or subscribers stop paying attention to you. They equate you with a waste of money and energy and that’s a sure death sentance for an internet marketer!
If you vow to never promote or endorse a sub-par product from this day forward, you will not only have fewer issues with your customers but you will also inevitably grow in both reputation and popularity in the online community. - Your Online and Personal Ethics Should be The Same.
You would never break into someone’s house and steal their life savings would you? Of course not! Well you probably shouldn’t try to con them out of giving it up freely either. In the online community your online business ethics should be the same as your personal morals. If you’re a different person at work then you are at home then you’ve already broken the third guideline!
It can’t be stressed enough the need for online ethics in this profession - wihout them we’re just a bunch of snakeoil slinging salesmen trying to get that old lady’s medicine money.
And there you have it! 5 simple ways to live and do business by on the internet which will not only help you succeed in your endeavors but will also make sure that you feel good about yourself and your job!
If you should have any other goodguy principles or guidelines you’d like to share with us please feel free to either email us or leave a comment below!
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
